Becoming a pharmacy technician can get you into the medical field quickly and efficiently, without costing a fortune in education costs. It’s hard enough to find a program that fits, but trying to navigate the incredible costs of education has caused many to forego their education altogether. Luckily, there are plenty of affordable programs available, and earning a certification doesn’t take as long as you think.
Pharmacy technician classes will prepare you to work in a pharmacy alongside the pharmacist, and with patients (assuming you’re working in retail or a similar environment). You’ll learn medical terminology, software, chemistry, and much more. If you’re interested in taking this career path, this guide will cover some of the basics of your training and education, what you can expect in the field, and other details about pharmacy technician work.
What Does A Pharmacy Tech Do?
You’ve most likely seen a pharmacy tech at work in a retail or other pharmacies at some point. They’re usually the people who interact with customers/patients and hand off medications. But that’s only the bare minimum of their responsibilities. As a pharmacy technician, you’ll be required to do more, but your responsibilities will likely change based on your environment. For example, a hospital pharmacy tech might have slightly different responsibilities than a retail pharmacy tech.
Some basic duties include:
- Organizing, storing, and ordering stock (medications)
- Labeling medications before delivery
- Proper storage of medications and pharmacy maintenance
- Assisting the pharmacist in various duties
- Helping to fill medications and measure doses
- Filing, labeling, printing, and sending paperwork
- Answering phones and customer service
- Filing insurance claims, following-up, and confirming details.
- Taking down patient information
- Using pharmacy software
- Maintaining medical ethics and patient privacy
These are the basic duties of a pharmacy technician, despite where you’re working. Even mail-order pharmacies operate similarly to a retail environment, aside from the lack of in-person customer interaction.
What Training Is Required?
So, what training and education do you need to become a pharmacy technician? First of all, you’ll need to find a good pharmacy technician course that’s both accredited and offers hands-on training. Most states will require a certain number of hours inside an actual pharmacy before you can become certified. This is because, while you can learn a lot in your courses, you can’t learn everything about the pharmacy until you’re there.
You’ll learn medical terminology, ethics, chemistry, anatomy and physiology, and law during your studies. You’ll need to know about things like HIPAA, patient privacy and security, and how the medications you’re helping to deliver work with the body.
Once you’ve completed your coursework and your hands-on training, it’s off to take your CPhT exam.
The Exam
In order to be officially certified as a pharmacy technician, you need to pass the CPhT exam. This exam carries a one-time fee of $129, and is 90 multiple-choice questions. 80 of these are scored, and ten are not. You’ll get about two hours to complete your exam, and if you fail, you can try again.
When you’re finished, you’ll get preliminary results right away, but your official results won’t be released for about two to three weeks. You can find more information on this here.
Salary And Job Outlook
The good news is that pharmacy tech jobs are growing by about 4% over the next decade, adding 15,000 jobs in that time period. The average salary for a pharmacy tech fresh out of school is about $33,000 per year, according to the BLS website. So, essentially, you’ll have a good starting salary, decent job opportunities, and room for growth as you pursue further education and training.
So, How Long Does It All Take?
All in all, most pharmacy tech programs take about 10-13 months for certification. If you want an associate’s degree, you’ll spend around 18-24 months acquiring one. Most people go the route of certification to get into the field quickly, but some employers are picky, and require a degree. Either way, you should be able to find work in the growing field.
Don’t forget that you’ll need a certain number of hours of hands-on training, too. This usually falls around 160-180 hours, depending on your state and program.
The Bottom Line
Becoming a pharmacy technician is one of the quickest ways to get into the healthcare industry. With programs taking as little as ten months to complete, you could potentially obtain a new career in just under one year! You’ll not only save time, but also the enormous costs of attending a four-year program. If you’re caring, detail-oriented, responsible, and respectful of other people’s information, this is a great opportunity for you. If you like it enough, you could even go on to become a pharmacist yourself. The opportunities are pretty much only limited by your aspirations. Good luck!
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